pic: 2015/2016 Robot Radio Comparison

[Mark McLeod]

loading photo ...

[yarden.saa]

Robots real estate problems solved!

[Thad House]

Where's the banana for scale?

In all seriousness, the smaller size is going to be much nicer. Only 2 ports is going to be trouble, but its easier to hide a switch in the robot, and put this radio further up and in a more open spot.

[jajabinx124]

Originally Posted by Thad House

Where's the banana for scale?

In all seriousness, the smaller size is going to be much nicer. Only 2 ports is going to be trouble, but its easier to hide a switch in the robot, and put this radio further up and in a more open spot.

It was actually a pear for scale in the blog post.

I agree, the smaller size is going to be nicer.

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by Thad House

Where's the banana for scale?

In all seriousness, the smaller size is going to be much nicer. Only 2 ports is going to be trouble, but its easier to hide a switch in the robot, and put this radio further up and in a more open spot.

The part I like is that it will be harder to mount it so you can't see the status lights. Ohh, and PoE, the possibility that power can come up the Ethernet cable which locks into place should reduce the number of dead radios on field.

Any photos of the back? what does the wall mount hardware look like?

[Thad House]

The issue with the POE is that it requires between 18-24 volts. Now FIRST could easily reuse the circuit from the 2009-2014 PDP to get 24 volts, but currently there is no easy way for teams to individually do it, and I suspect that FIRST will not allow it unless it requires all teams to do it. However I would love to have POE. 1 less cable to run around the robot would totally be worth it.

[mastachyra]

Does it happen to be water proof?

[Mark McLeod]

Here is the back:




And the waterspoofing, I mean waterproofing:

[asid61]

Are those odd slots in the back for mounting? That would be really handy.

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by asid61

Are those odd slots in the back for mounting? That would be really handy.

The normal usage for that AP is to mount it on walls in a hotel. I expect to see someone post a render of a 3D printable mount before I finish typing this.

[Doug Frisk]

Originally Posted by Thad House

The issue with the POE is that it requires between 18-24 volts. Now FIRST could easily reuse the circuit from the 2009-2014 PDP to get 24 volts, but currently there is no easy way for teams to individually do it, and I suspect that FIRST will not allow it unless it requires all teams to do it. However I would love to have POE. 1 less cable to run around the robot would totally be worth it.

12 - 24 volts based on the sticker on the back of the radio. I expect the 18 - 24 quote is to make sure it functions when the radio is at the end of a 100 meter run.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

The antennas in this radio are on each side that doesn't have connectors. As always, mounting high in the robot away from noise sources and keeping the sides away from metal is the recommended practice.

[Foster]

I've used these Adafruit power injector adaptors in the past. It would give you the one cable run ability at the risk of some extra connections.

The connections use the snap on the ethernet cable to hold them in place, I've not had problems with them coming apart in daily use.

I'm not sure if they would run into a power rule problem, maybe Al can give some guidance.

[orangemoore]

Originally Posted by Foster

I've used these Adafruit power injector adaptors in the past. It would give you the one cable run ability at the risk of some extra connections.

The connections use the snap on the ethernet cable to hold them in place, I've not had problems with them coming apart in daily use.

I'm not sure if they would run into a power rule problem, maybe Al can give some guidance.

R32 is what will prevent you from doing this. It says you must power the radio from the VRM.

[Foster]

Originally Posted by orangemoore

R32 is what will prevent you from doing this. It says you must power the radio from the VRM.

Help me out some. The VRM supplies the voltage, you would still use it to feed into Adafruit power injector and then the ethernet cable and then to the radio.

How does Rule R32 come into play?